The Ghost of Revello Drive
by SquirlK
Summary: Set after 'The Gift'. There is a presence in the Summers house.


The Ghost of Revello Drive

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just take em out and make em cry sometimes.

Summary: Set after 'The Gift'. There's a presence in the house.

Reviews: Yes, please. I love reviewers. Readers Rock but Reviewers Rule!

A/N: Was dozing on the edge of sleep when this came to me and wouldn't leave me alone all day. So here it is. Hope you like it.

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No one saw Spike at all after that night. They all thought he'd left town because the object of his obsession had died. Dawn knew better. It began the first night after it happened. Dawn didn't think anyone else heard but since her room was right next-door, she did. First there was a thump and a muffled curse. After that she never heard another word uttered. She would occasionally hear a smothered sob but after a time even that sound ceased. The rustle of clothing and the soft tread of feet were the only sounds heard. She'd overheard Willow and Tara talk about the noises one day but they didn't have a clue about what was actually causing them. They thought that Buffy's ghost was haunting them, but neither one wanted to go into the locked room to investigate.

Dawn knew what was going on but was powerless to do anything about it. While lying in her bed with soundless tears streaming down her face, she waited for him. Night after night, she watched silently as an arm stretched out to gently place small gifts on her windowsill. She kept these tiny gestures of love to herself, content to let the witches speculate about the reason the slayer had chosen to haunt her home.

And so it continued for several weeks until one night she watched again as he passed her window, pausing as always to place a small package on the sill. Most nights she heard him as he left, always just before dawn so the sun's deadly rays wouldn't end his existence. This night was different because she never saw him leave. She paused by the always-closed door and listened but didn't hear anything. She thought that maybe she'd dozed off and missed his exit.

That night she waited in vain for the familiar shadow to pass. When he didn't come, she knew then that he hadn't left. She slipped silently out of bed and padded on bare feet to the locked door. She released the chain around her neck and retrieved the key she'd slipped away from Willow. Opening the door, she slid through and closed it behind her. In the moonlight streaming through the window, she saw him. He was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. His too-thin face was pale and ghostly in the dim light. She could tell he hadn't been feeding well enough to survive. Relieved that he'd avoided getting dusted during the day, she knelt next to his shivering form. The evidence of the tears he didn't have time to hide breaking her heart.

"I'm sorry, I can't do it anymore. I can't live without her." His deep voice was nothing more than a husky whisper. He sounded as if he hadn't spoken at all in the time since 'that night'.

Dawn sat next to him and drew him into her arms. She pulled his head onto her shoulder. That small gesture of comfort broke him. He slumped against her and she was shocked by how thin he actually was. He sobbed as if his world had ended. Silently and painfully he cried until there was nothing left in him. Exhausted, he slid into sleep. She pulled the pillow from the bed and slipped it under his tousled head. Easing out from under his lax body, she covered him with the comforter. It was then that she noticed something soft held in his slender hand. Mr. Gordo. Unconsciously he hugged the small stuffed pig tighter, inhaling the fading scent. She smoothed his unruly curls with a tender hand.

"Oh, Spike. We'll get through this together. Just the two of us. We have to. We owe it to Buffy. She died so we could live. Be brave. Live. For her." The teenager whispered, tears of her own shining in the moonlight. She walked over to the window so she could pull the curtains against the morning sun and looked up just in time to see a shooting star. Bright in the night sky, it trailed across the heavens. Dawn smiled. A tiny whisper of a sound brushed her ear.

"For me."

Finis


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